


Future

by archchancellor_archived



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Friendship, Other, Post-Hogwarts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-10-06
Updated: 2005-10-06
Packaged: 2018-10-26 11:59:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10786338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/archchancellor_archived/pseuds/archchancellor_archived
Summary: Before,now and next.





	Future

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Annie, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [The Quidditch Pitch](http://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Quidditch_Pitch), which went offline in 2015 when the hosting expired, at a time I was not able to renew it. I contacted Open Doors, hoping to preserve the archive using an old backup, and began importing these works as an Open Doors-approved project in April 2017. Open Doors e-mailed all authors about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact us using the e-mail address on [The Quidditch Pitch collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/thequidditchpitch/profile).

"Eggs?" Ron said.

"Yep," Louise replied; she was never too sure what to say when someone pointed out the obvious. Like when someone says it's raining when you are getting wet…what do you say?

"Pig is going to have a family," Hermione said, sounding happy.

"Do you know that this means?" Ron asked.

"No, what?"

"I’m going be a grandad," Ron said with a huge smile on his face. "And you’re a grandmother."

"Ron! You say something like that again and I will hurt you. I am too young to be a grandmother."

~*~

Pig watched Crookshanks. The cat was still asleep. The humans did not know if he would wake up. Around his neck was a bandage that covered the stitches. 

"Crookshanks, you have to wake up." Pig said.

Crookshanks slept on…

He ran out of the castle as fast as he could, heading to the forest. He needed to see Black.

"Black are you there?!" Crookshanks called out to the darkness.

"I’m here," said the dog, walking over to meet him.

"You didn’t get him?" Crookshanks wondered why he asked the question when he already knew the answer.

"No, he was not there. I think I scared the redhead. He woke up and started screaming."

"I know; I heard. Even if you had not woken him you would not have found the rat."

"How come?"

"He disappeared a few days ago," Crookshanks said, looking around. He looked back at the castle and saw that they were being watched from one of the windows.

"Let's get out of sight," Black said, leading the cat into the forest.

 

"I think the rat knew we were onto him. He has faked his death."

"How?"

"I did not see it but the redhead said that he found blood on his bed with some of my hair. He now thinks that I killed him." Crookshanks said. He was annoyed…he would not have minded being blamed for killing the rat if he had actually done so.

"He faked his death. Not the first time he has done that."

"I checked around the tower as much as I could but I cannot find a trace of his scent. But, saying that, I cannot move about that much."

"Why's that?"

"The redhead and my mistress are fighting over the whole rat death thing. Some days I wish I could speak human so I could tell them what is going on."

"That would be a good idea."

"It would not work even if I could do it."

"How come?"

"Humans like talking to plants more than to anyone who can talk back at them."

"We need to find him."

"I know, but I don’t see how. There are half a ton of rats around here. A lot are in the forest, some in the castle. I know his scent but even I could not find it among all the others."

"We’ll look anyway. I will take the forest, you take the castle."

Crookshanks nodded and walked back to the castle.

~*~

Ron walked down stairs to find Pig hooting softly at Crookshanks.

"He will be okay," Ron said.

Pig turned and looked at his master. 

"Hoot." 

Ron sat in a chair next to the table that Crookshanks was layed on. Charlie was still here; he was sitting on the couch reading some of Louise's animal medicine and treatment books. Hermione's mum and dad had gone home. So had the twins.

 

"I am sure he will be fine," Ron said to Pig. "Louise knows what she is doing. Crookshanks will live, just you wait."

Pig flew to his master and climbed inside the chest pocket of his shirt. Poking his head out of the top he continued his vigil over Crookshanks.

"Since you are here," Ron started, "I think congratulations are in order."

"Hoot," Pig said; he had not planned on telling his master just yet that he was going to be a dad.

"You do realise what the babies are going to be?"

"Hoot?" (What?)

"Post owls."

"Hoot!" (The author will not translate what Pig just said but it was very rude.)

"I am guessing that you have just remembered that Louise is not a witch and has no idea what a post owl is."

"....." Pig said nothing. He was still in shock.

"She may find it strange when the babies disappear for a time only to return with letters for her."

"...." Pig was close to having a heart attack.

"Hermione and I will tell her what we can. Don’t worry," Ron said, stroking the top of Pig's head.

"That should be a fun conversation," Charlie said. "Let's hope she can take it."

"She will be okay about it. She is a very level-headed woman," Ron replied.

"Hoot" (I hope so.)

The three fell silent as Crookshanks turned in his sleep. Ron bent his head to Crookshanks' ear.

"You can make it. Don’t give up," Ron said.

~*~

Crookshanks was walking across the grounds in search of the dog when he saw something strange. It was his mistress with the redhead and the scar boy. They were underneath that cloak again. They spent a lot of time with that cloak. It was strange because when they were wearing it, no one else saw them. 

They were near the house of the large man with the really stupid big dog. Crookshanks had tried talking to it a week or so back to see if he had seen any strange rats. It was a waste of time. The dog had started going on and on about rats in the wall and lots of other stupid stuff that did not make sense. Crookshanks knew that dogs were stupid but this was so far beyond. Crookshanks had seen fungus smarter than this dog.

Crookshanks walked towards his mistress. 

"Crookshanks!" his mistress moaned. "No, go away Crookshanks! Go away!"

Crookshanks wondered why his mistress was acting like this and walked closer.

"Scabbers-NO!" That was the redhead.

Who was Scabbers? 

Then he saw it. The rat. It jumped from the redhead's grasp and started running away from the cat. Crookshanks ran after him, the shouts of the humans behind him but the redhead was fast. He got to the rat before Crookshanks did. Crookshanks jumped on the redhead trying to get at the rat.

"Get off, you stinking cat-" he said, being cut off because Crookshanks' mistress and the scar boy fell over them.

"Ron, get back under the cloak- the minister they’ll be coming back out in a minute-"

Crookshanks was knocked off the redhead when he saw Black run from the trees and grip the redhead's arm in his jaws, dragging him away. The scar boy tried to stop him but Black knocked his wand away.

The scar boy and Crookshanks' mistress tried to follow the redhead and the dog but were knocked back by the strange tree with the moving branches.

The dog and the redhead were safe below the reach of the branches. When the dog called out:

"Crookshanks give me a minute then hit the knot at the base of the tree! That will let the others follow. OK!"

"OK," Crookshanks called back.

 

~*~

"Louise, we have to tell you something," Hermione started.

They were in the front room with Ron and Charlie. Pig was still in the other room watching over Crookshanks. The occasional loud hoot could be heard as Pig shouted at Crookshanks to wake up.

"What is it?" Louise asked.

"What do you think about magic?" Hermione said.

Louise looked at them for a few seconds.

"What? Like the magicians of the telly?"

"No, real magic." Ron said.

"It sounds nice. It would be good if it were true," Louise said. "The world might be a better place because of it."

"What would you say if it was real?"

"Where is this leading?"

"Please, what would you say if it was real?"

"I don’t know. I have never thought about it."

Hermione looked at the ground for a few seconds before pulling out her wand. 

"Watch this."

Hermione said some words that Louise did not understand and pointed the wand at the sideboard. The pictures of her son that were on it started to float into the air. 

"What the f-"

"Magic is real. It is as real as electricity. It is as real as anything else."

"How? What are you?"

"Me?" Hermione said. "I am a witch."

~*~

Crookshanks pressed the knot at the base of the tree. The branches stopped swinging and his mistress and the scar boy ran underneath them to the hole through which Black had dragged the redhead and the rat. Crookshanks had heard a crack from the redhead as he tried to stop himself being dragged away. 

Crookshanks was about to follow them when something grabbed his attention. It was a smell. It was like his mistress but coming from the forest. Crookshanks found this strange because everyone had their own scent. But here and now was another scent like his mistress'. He was used to his mistress being in two places at once; all this year she had been doing it. But that was only during the day. How could she be in the forest? And what was she doing there? Crookshanks would have gone over to have a look but he needed to go down the hole to lead the others to Black.

 

 

~*~

The talk with Louise was going well. She had accepted the fact that the three people in front of her were magical, that magic existed in the world, and that a lot of strange stories she had heard as a child were more or less true. Louise was a very logical person. The facts were put in front of her. She worked them over in her mind and came to a conclusion. One thing was bothering her.

"Why are you telling me?" She asked.

"Ah, that," Ron said. 

Louise got the feeling that she was not going to like what happened next.

"You see..."

"Yes."

"It is like this," Hermione said shooting a look at Ron. "Our Pig is not like your owl. He is a post owl"

"Post owl?"

"Yes. Wizards and witches use owls to send mail."

"I have to admit I did not see that coming," Louise said after the information sunk in.

"Well, you see, now that he and your owl are having babies there is a good chance that they will be post owls as well."

"Do they have to be post owls?"

"No, they can choose not to do it. But when they are young they might pick up letters that are for you and bring them to you. We are telling you this because you need to know why they are doing it."

Louise sat back in her chair as she worked this out in her mind.

"Do you want a cup of tea?" Hermione asked.

"That would be good. Thank you."

Ron and Hermione left the room.

"So what do you do for a living, Charlie? I need a normal thing to think about as I work this out."

 

"Normal?" Charlie said. "You maybe out of luck."

"Why's that?"

"I work with dragons," he said with a smile.

Louise stared at him for a moment then started laughing.

~*~

Pig looked and the gentle rise and fall of Crookshanks chest as the cat slept on.

~*~

Crookshanks sat on the bed and watched as the scene unfolded in front of him. He was impressed. The redhead had stood up on a broken leg and he had not passed out. Crookshanks was amazed that he was still conscious. Crookshanks could smell the pain coming off him in waves. 

The scar boy had tried to kill Black, the man trying to save him. Crookshanks found this amusing. Humans doing the worst thing at the wrong time always made him smile.

The man who smelled like a wolf turned up then were was lots of shouting. Humans seemed to like doing that a lot. They must know that it does nothing in the long run but they do it anyway.

Then the strange man with the funny smell turned up to everyone's surprise. Crookshanks did not know what to make of this one. He was human but he smelled inhuman. Like there was something inside him. Crookshanks got a headache just thinking about it. He was knocked out by his mistress, the scar boy, and the redhead.

 

Then the main event happened. The rat was turned into a human. But Crookshanks had to say that he still looked more like a rat in the form.

The talk they were having was drawing to a close as the ratman was tied to the wolf and the redhead. Crookshanks led them out of the house down the passage.

~*~

"You look after sick dragons?"

"Yes."

"It is hard to image a dragon getting sick. What are their illnesses like?"

"Like most animals'." 

"They must be great to work with."

"They are but some days I would like to work with something that cannot vaporize me hiccuping,"

"Being vaporized is a draw back," Louise said, smiling.

 

~*~

One minute everything was going fine, then the next it all went to hell. Yarrooll humans they cannot get anything right. They were halfway along the grounds to the castle when the wolf man turned into a wolf and tried to attack the others. Black turned into a dog to stop the wolf. Ratman turned into a rat and ran away. The redhead fell over on his broken leg. And his mistress and scar boy seemed to be completely useless as this all happened. Crookshanks ran after the rat as these strange things came around the corner of the castle and walked to the humans. Crookshanks had no time to think about that as he ran after the rat.

~*~

"So it looks like I am going to have some post owls in the family," Louise said.

"You okay with it?" Charlie asked.

"Well it was a shock at first but I got over it. The world is a big place. I don’t pretended for a second to understand it. But I can accept it."

Charlie looked at his watch.

"I need to go. I need to see mum before I go home," he said standing up. "I have one question."

"Yes?"

"Your son, will you tell him all this?"

"Yes. I have to; he will figure something is up on his own. It is better if I tell him."

Louise walked Charlie to the door and she opened it for him.

"Do you mind if I visit you again?" Charlie asked.

"No, why?"

"Well..." Louise saw that his ears were going as red as his hair. "I can show your son some books on dragons."

"That will be nice for him. Sure, anytime."

"Goodbye."

"Bye"

Louise closed the door after watching Charlie walk to the end of the street where he'd disappeared. On a normal day Louise would have been shocked by this, but not today. She turned around to see Hermione smiling at her.

"He’s good looking," she said.

"Pardon?" Louise asked.

"Charlie he is a good looking man."

"I did not notice," Louise lied.

"He’s single."

"Oh," Louise said. " Let's check on Crookshanks."

They walked into the room with the sleeping cat. Louise checked his pulse.

"It's stronger than before."

"So that’s good, right?" Ron asked.

"Yes it is." 

~*~

Crookshanks had lost the rat in the forest an hour ago. He was now on the other side, searching in vain hope that he might pick up his scent again. But it was no good. There were too many other scents to wade through. 

He was just about to give up and head back when he heard the sound of wings--large wings. He looked up.

 

"Well now I have seen everything," Crookshanks said to himself.

It was half horse and half eagle. Well he thought it looked like half a horse…he was not too sure. On the back was Black. Crookshanks watched the bird thing land and Black get off his back. He walked over to Crookshanks and changed to his dog form.

"Hello, Crookshanks."

"Hello, Black. I see everything went well."

"More or less."

"Huh?" Crookshanks asked.

"Long story for another time. I have to get far away from here."

"How are my mistress and the others."

"They are fine. They are being looked after."

"Good. I lost the rat. I can’t smell him anymore."

"Let me try."

Crookshanks watched as the dog ran his nose across the ground casting for the scent of the missing rat. After a few minutes Crookshanks started laughing. Black looked up.

"What's so funny?" He asked.

"Nothing, it's just the sound you make when you're doing that; it is funny."

"Thank you very much," said Black, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Don’t be like that Blac-"Crookshanks stopped and smiled. "I think I will stop calling you Black from now."

"Oh and what are you going to call me?"

"Something after the sound you make. Snuffles."

"Snuffles?? What sort of name is that?"

"That’s your name from now on."

The dog smiled (which is a hard thing to do when you have the jaw a dog has). 

"See you around, Crookshanks."

Snuffles changed back into a human and mounted the bird thing. With one last nod at the cat he flew away.

Crookshanks started back to the castle and his mistress.

 

 

~*~

Crookshanks opened his eyes. The pain from the light caused him to let out a small meow of pain. His neck felt sore.

Hermione heard her cat call out and rushed to his side. 

"Louise! He has woken up," she said.

Louise rushed into the room and started to check the cat over.

Crookshanks wondered why he was at the animal lady's home. Whatever the reason was it did not matter. He would find out later.

"He is going to be fine," Louise said.

"He looks hungry," Ron said.

 

"He is. But no solid food until his throat has healed."

"What do we feed him?" Hermione asked.

Louise opened a cabinet and took out a container.

"Put some of this in his water." She said, passing it to them. "This will give him all he needs. After a week he should be ready for solid food. But I want you to bring him to the centre tomorrow for a proper check up."

"We will." Hermione said, picking up the cat holding him close to her chest.

Pig flew into the room and landed on Hermione shoulder.

"Hello, Crookshanks."

"Hi Pig. There seems to have been some excitement while I was asleep. But, well, it is never a good party unless you wake up somewhere else," Crookshanks said, smiling in the way only a cat knows.

"Crookshanks?" Pig said.

"Yes"

"I know this should wait until morning but I have a question to ask."

"Go on."

"How do you feel about being a uncle?"

 

Fin

This is the end of the Animal Chronicles.


End file.
